Farmers in Busia County have been urged to adopt soil testing in order to understand the kind of crops to plant and fertilizer to use on their farms in order to increase food Production.
Speaking to Kenya News Agency at KALRO Alupe, Maddo Onyango, a soil analyst, said the county has the potential to produce abundant food but soil acidity has caused the current decline in food production in the areas. "We have reached about 30% of farmers for soil analysis in the county and farmers are experiencing low food production because of poor soil texture and with high acidity as a result of over use of acidifying fertilizers," he said.
He urged farmers to have their soil tested so as to understand the characteristics of their soil.
Onyango stated that Busia County can feed a large population in the country since farmers can farm for three seasons in a year. "The production of crops like beans can be done in three phases in one year due to the good weather patterns in the county.